IB Psychology Cognitive Development Notes

Children's thinking develops through distinct cognitive stages shaped by biological maturation and active exploration

1. Cognitive development describes how children's mental abilities, problem-solving skills, and understanding of the world evolve from infancy through adolescence.
2. Two major theoretical approaches explain how this happens: Piaget's stage theory (individual cognitive progression through qualitatively different stages) and Vygotsky's sociocultural theory (learning through social interaction and cultural context).

Piaget's Stage Theory

1. Piaget proposed that children progress through four qualitatively different cognitive stages, each marked by distinct mental capabilities and limitations.
2. The sensorimotor stage (0-2 years) is when infants learn through physical interaction. They gradually develop object permanence—the understanding that objects exist even when out of sight.
3. The preoperational stage (2-7 years) brings language and symbolic thought, but children cannot yet think logically. They show egocentrism (inability to see another's perspective) and lack conservation (understanding that quantity remains unchanged despite appearance changes).
4. The concrete operational stage (7-11 years) allows logical thinking about concrete events, successful conservation tasks, and object categorization, but abstract reasoning remains impossible.
5. The formal operational stage (11+ years) brings abstract thinking, hypothetical reasoning, and the ability to solve complex logical problems.

Conservation tasks: Testing understanding

1. Piaget's conservation studies examined whether children understood that quantity (number, liquid, mass, volume) remains constant despite changes in appearance.
2. A typical task: two identical glasses of water are shown to a child; one is poured into a taller, narrower glass; the child is asked if the amount of water is still the same.